This invention relates to the unloading of particulate material from a reciprocating floor, and more particularly to the unloading of particulate and granular materials from an end of a reciprocating conveyor floor and a cleanout cover system therefor.
Reciprocating floor conveyors associated with trucks, trailers and other facilities for loading and unloading particulate and granular materials comprise a plurality of laterally spaced, longitudinally elongated slat members arranged for longitudinal reciprocation on a selected pattern relative to each other, to move product supported thereon in a selected direction. In the present instance the invention relates to truck and trailer vehicles equipped with reciprocating floor beds, the vehicle being arranged for transporting large quantities of particulate materials such as hog fuel, sawdust, wood and bark shavings, wood chips, barkdust, sand, gravel, garbage and recycling materials, from a vehicle loading site to a remote unloading site at which the reciprocating floor is operated to discharge the selected material out of the back of the truck or trailer.
A cleanout cover apparatus for such vehicles has been provided heretofore and is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,033,179; issued 7 Mar., 2000 to Abbott. This reference provides the closest prior art relevant to the present invention.
In the patent, Abbott teaches a complex structure which provides a cover mounting reel assembly extending laterally across the entire front, closed end wall of the transport vehicle, the reel being disposed just above the front terminal end of the reciprocating floor floor structure of the vehicle. The reel assembly is installed within the confines created by a sloped front partition wall of the trailer structure which is provided to prevent loose material in the trailer from accumulating at the front-most end of the trailer at the front terminal end of the reciprocating floor structure.
Abbott teaches that the cleanout apparatus comprises a reel adapted for rotatable support on the trailer adjacent the bottom of the forward end wall thereof, behind the sloping front partition wall. A flexible cleanout cover is supported on the reel and is movable from a first retracted position in which it is coiled around the reel to a second, uncoiled extended position in which the cover extends through the rear door opening of the vehicle. Abbott teaches, importantly, that when the cleanout cover is in the first retracted position, it is disposed such that a portion thereof extends under the sloping front partition wall and over the reciprocating floor and under a portion of the particulate material adjacent the forward end wall of the trailer. Accordingly, the cleanout cover is moved from the first retracted position carried on the reel to the second, extended position in response to frictional engagement of the cover with the reciprocating floor as the floor is reciprocated to convey the particulate material rearwardly therealong and out through the rear door opening of the vehicle. The cleanout cover then is retracted from the second, extended position to the first retracted position carried on the reel in response to retracting rotation of the reel after the vehicle has been unloaded.
While the system of Abbott does provide a cleanout system that is adequate for the purpose, it involves an assembly that is complex and expensive, complicated to install, requiring installation either during original manufacture of the trailer and reciprocating floor apparatus, or otherwise extremely expensive retrofit installation requiring removal and replacement of the sloped front partition wall of the trailer. Further, the Abbott assembly is extremely susceptible to the effective sweeping of loose material on and beneath the cover into the space within the confines of the sloped wall during retraction of the cover onto the reel after the unloading operation. Additionally, the apparatus of Abbott requires a pair of laterally spaced tether cables or ropes secured at one end to the reel and at the opposite end to laterally spaced positions on a stiffener member that is secured to and extends the full width of the cover, whereby the tether cables or ropes are wound onto the reel together with the cover.